Grandmaster John Nunn provides the reader with a brilliant made chess
course based on the games of the legendary World Champion Emanuel
Lasker.
Emanuel Lasker was probably the strongest chess player of all time and
the secrets of his success did remain for many players a great mystery
but John Nunn writes:
In reality, there was nothing mystical or underhand about his
games;they where based on a deep understanding of chess, an
appreciation of deceptive
positions and some shrewd psychology.
Another myth for which there seems no real evidence is that Lasker
deliberately played bad moves in order to unsettle his opponents.
Certainly Lasker
played bad moves,as all chess players do from time to time,but the
point which struck me when analysing his games was how often he adopted
a safety first strategy.
Lasker was a great fighter and had a strong will to win, but his
winning efforts hardly ever crossed the boundary into recklessness; in
almost every case, he played moves that appeared provocative but where
no worse than the alternatives, with the important difference that they
were more likely to induce a mistake.
The reader will find the following readable chapters:Introduction: Why
Lasker,Misunderstood Genius,Attack and Defence,Piece Activity,Pawn
Structre,The Endgame, Bishop vs Knight, Queen less Endgames, Defending
Inferior Positions, Manoeuvring, Endgames:Make Something from Nothing,
Playing for the Win, Fleeting Chances,The Critical Moment, Common
Failing and not to forget a careful selection exercises, all with full
commentary and explanation.
It is difficult to see form here but every chapter in this book is
filled with highly instructive subjects.
This all is written to show how the most important chess concepts
operate in practice.
{Nimzowitsch did something similar in his book:My System and Chess
Praxis}
The book is not intended as a biography of Lasker but the fans will
certainly enjoy the high quality of Nunn his analyses.
One of my favourite game {fragments} is the world championship game
between Schlechter and Lasker of
Vienna 1910: Schlechter,Carl - Lasker,Emanuel [C66]
World Championship 10th GER/AUT (5), 21.01.1910
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 d6 5.d4 Bd7 6.Nc3 Be7 7.Bg5 0-0
8.dxe5 Nxe5 9.Bxd7 Nfxd7 10.Bxe7 Nxf3+
11.Qxf3 Qxe7 12.Nd5 Qd8 13.Rad1 Re8 14.Rfe1 Nb6 15.Qc3 Nxd5 16.Rxd5 Re6
17.Rd3 Qe7 18.Rg3 Rg6
19.Ree3 Re8 20.h3 Kf8 21.Rxg6 hxg6 22.Qb4 c6 23.Qa3 a6 24.Qb3 Rd8 25.c4
Rd7 26.Qd1 Qe5 27.Qg4 Ke8
28.Qe2 Kd8 29.Qd2 Kc7 30.a3 Re7 31.b4 b5 32.cxb5 axb5 33.g3 g5 34.Kg2
Re8 35.Qd1 f6 36.Qb3 Qe6
37.Qd1 Rh8 38.g4 Qc4 39.a4 Qxb4 40.axb5 Qxb5 41.Rb3 Qa6 42.Qd4 Re8
43.Rb1 Re5 44.Qb4 Qb5
45.Qe1 Qd3 46.Rb4 c5 47.Ra4 c4 48.Qa1 Qxe4+ 49.Kh2 Rb5 50.Qa2 Qe5+
51.Kg1 Qe1+ 52.Kh2 d5 53.Ra8 Qb4 54.Kg2 Qc5 55.Qa6 Rb8 56.Ra7+ Kd8
57.Rxg7 Qb6 58.Qa3 Kc8 1-0,
This game is deeply analysed from move 36 with nearly six pages of
highly instructive text.
As we can see this is one of the few lost games of Lasker in this book.
Te conditions of the match Schlechter Lasker are
still debated among chess historians, but it seems Schlechter accepted
to play under very unfavourable conditions.
Lasker used the Exchange variation:
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 in number of vital encounters as the
following game against the great Capablanca
whose endgame technique was legendary.
Lasker,Emanuel - Capablanca,Jose Raul [C68]
St Petersburg final St Petersburg (7), 18.05.1914
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d4 exd4 6.Qxd4 Qxd4 7.Nxd4 Bd6
8.Nc3 Ne7 9.0-0 0-0 10.f4 Re8
11.Nb3 f6 12.f5 b6 13.Bf4 Bb7 14.Bxd6 cxd6 15.Nd4 Rad8 16.Ne6 Rd7
17.Rad1 Nc8 18.Rf2 b5 19.Rfd2 Rde7
20.b4 Kf7 21.a3 Ba8 22.Kf2 Ra7 23.g4 h6 24.Rd3 a5 25.h4 axb4 26.axb4
Rae7 27.Kf3 Rg8 28.Kf4 g6 29.Rg3 g5+
30.Kf3 Nb6 31.hxg5 hxg5 32.Rh3 Rd7 33.Kg3 Ke8 34.Rdh1 Bb7 35.e5 dxe5
36.Ne4 Nd5 37.N6c5 Bc8 38.Nxd7 Bxd7
39.Rh7 Rf8 40.Ra1 Kd8 41.Ra8+ Bc8 42.Nc5 1-0
Kasparov later wrote: and Black resigned, and the old chess wizard
Lasker had become the winner of this historical contest.
The psychological effect of this brilliant victory was long-lasting. A
shaken Capablanca lost with white in the next round to
Dr Tarrasch. And even seven years later, in his world championship
match against Lasker, he never played 3...a6 in the Ruy Lopez!Conclusion: One of the best chess
courses I have ever seen!